(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting a pedestrian by a vehicle during night driving, in which a color image and an infrared image are obtained, and a pedestrian area is detected by excluding a non-pedestrian area from the infrared image using information of the color image.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A vehicle vision system takes a color image of the vicinity of a vehicle through a camera mounted on the vehicle and displays it. For detecting an object (a vehicle, a pedestrian, etc.), this color image ensures a certain degree of performance during the daytime, but the performance for detecting an object such as a pedestrian/animal is significantly reduced at nighttime.
In order to solve the problem, conventionally, a vehicle night vision system, which applies a far-infrared camera or a near-infrared camera, etc. taking a thermal image by using the thermal property generated from a human body, has been proposed. However, because the thermal image is detected as a black and white image, substantial information may be lost and thus erroneous detection is increased.